Report Builder

Report Builder

Introduction

Hydrological analyses within a modelling project involve many components, e.g. determining catchment descriptors, deriving design hydrographs and peak flows (i.e. ReFH2 and WINFAP analyses) and reconciliation of hydrographs for use as model boundary inputs. Through each stage, these processes will generate a wide variety of data and metadata. It is important to keep records of data produced together with explanations of decisions made in data production. Examples of key data within hydrological analyses are:

  • Maps, e.g. as image files

  • Single charts, e.g. as image files

  • Chart data, e.g. as Excel spreadsheets

  • Tabular data, e.g. as Excel spreadsheets

  • PDF documents containing groups of tables, charts and map data

All of this information can be utilised in the reporting that will form the final output from a project. Keeping track of all of these different components and all of the associated data and metadata is a difficult, complex process.

What does it do?

The Report Builder tool has been developed to help track the development of the hydrological aspects of a project (it will be expanded further in future to encompass other project data). Each Hydrology+ project can be exported as a Flood Modeller report. The following data will be automatically included in your report:

  • Maps of the project extent showing local gauge sites, catchment polygons and defined calculation points

  • Summary information about each gauge within the project extent

  • Summary information about each defined calculation point within the project extent

  • Shapefile of gauge sites within the project extent

  • Shapefile of defined calculation points within the project

  • ReFH2 analyses and diagnostics

  • WINFAP analyses and diagnostics

  • Preferred versions of catchment descriptors at each calculation point

  • All reconciled hydrographs in both chart and table formats – for both individual return periods and for all epochs and scenarios produced at each calculation point

  • Summary tables of peak flow and peak flow / catchment area.

  • Comments and descriptions added by users to explain decisions made

  • Default metadata recorded within the Hydrology+ project, e.g. when data has been created and by whom.

When you build a report, the tool will collate these key data from each calculation point defined in your Hydrology+ project. The report data will be extracted to a standard file and folder structure in formats that will allow easy insertion into your project reports. These formats are:

  • Maps as image files

  • Single charts as image files

  • Chart data as csv files / excel spreadsheets

  • Tabular data as csv files / excel spreadsheets

  • PDF documents containing groups of tables, charts and map data

You can run the Report Builder multiple times as you progress your project and each time your report data will be refreshed and updated.

How to use the Report Builder Tool

Access the Report Builder by clicking the button provided on the Hydrology+ tab of the main toolbar.

Note that the tool requires a Hydrology+ (H+) project to be loaded in the interface.

The Report Builder interface opens in a new window.

This prompts for the following settings to specify the new report:

  1. The folder location where the report will be saved – either type in a valid file path or use the (3-dot) button to browse to a folder

  2. Option to open the report folder after the report data have been created – tick the box as required.

  3. Option include or exclude details of gauging stations within the project extent. These data can take a few minutes to extract (if there are multiple gauge stations in the area) however the data will likely be the same from each run of the Report Builder. Therefore, this option enables the tool to exclude gathering these data for faster performance, e.g. for re-runs of Report Builder to only extract additional summaries from new analyses.

  4. Select the extent to use for new map images generated – the two options are:

  • Let Report Builder determine a map extent to encompass all data (this is the default setting)

  • Use the current map extent displayed in the interface as set by the user

  1. Option to create a zip file of the report folder – for easier sharing project report data

After settings are specified, click the OK button to activate the report building process. Once the Report Builder process is started there is no option to abort part way through and the Flood Modeller interface will be locked until the process has completed. Depending upon the size of the Hydrology+ project and the number of associated gauge stations, a report build may take a few minutes to complete. However, if Report Builder thinks the defined area of analysis is large, i.e. contain many gauge stations each requiring an online data retrieval, a warning is displayed providing the chance to abort the report build or exclude the gauge station data extraction (to speed up the process).

During the report building the interface display will automatically change as each data item is created to inform on progress, e.g. gauges will switch on and off on the map, zoom levels may change, etc. The tool will also notify when the report building process has completed. Note that the tool does not return the map view to the configuration from prior to the report build process and so may look different (i.e. a change in zoom level and some Hydrology+ elements may be turned off).

Upon completion a typical report output folder will be as shown below; a collection of spreadsheets, images, shapefiles and pdf files, with the data for each defined calculation point written to separate sub-folders:

Within each calculation point sub-folder the structure is as follows:

Glossary of Report Builder outputs

Filename / Folder Name

Description

H+ ProjectName.png

Image file:

Map view of calculation points in project as png image file (with associated world file providing geo-location). Includes base mapping and any other GIS layers loaded in Layers Panel.

H+ ProjectName_gauges_catchment_calcpoints.png

Image file:

Map view of calculation points in project together with all NRFA and measuring authority gauges available within the project extent (as png image file with associated world file providing geo-location). Includes base mapping and any other GIS layers loaded in Layers Panel.

Note: Where a gauge is associated to both the NRFA and measuring authority, the NRFA symbology will take precedent and will be displayed.

H+ ProjectName_inc_FEH.png

Image file:

Same view as H+ ProjectName.png with addition of any FEH catchment polygons associated to calculation points.

(Note: In some cases, there will not be any associated polygons and this image will then be the same as H+ ProjectName.png).

Project_gauges.xlsx

Spreadsheet containing two work sheets:

  1. All gauges – lists all gauges within defined area, providing following data:

  • Watercourse

  • Station name

  • Gauging authority number

  • NRFA number

  • Catchment area (km2)

  • Type (rated / ultrasonic / level...)

  • Start of record and end if station closed

  1. NRFA gauges - lists only NRFA gauges within defined area, providing following data:

  • Station name

  • Start and end of NRFA flood peak record

  • Update for this study?

  • OK for QMED?

  • OK for pooling?

  • Data quality check needed?

  • Other comments on station and flow data quality

Project_Info.xlsx

Spreadsheet containing four work sheets:

  1. CDs (default) – original catchment descriptors at each calculation point location within project area, providing following data:

  • Site code

  • FARL

  • PROPWET

  • BFIHOST19

  • DPLBAR (km)

  • DPSBAR (m/km)

  • SAAR (mm)

  • URBEXT 1990

  • URBEXT 2000 FPEXT

  1. CDs (preferred) – preferred catchment descriptors at each calculation point location within project area, providing following data:

  • Site code

  • FARL

  • PROPWET

  • BFIHOST19

  • DPLBAR (km)

  • DPSBAR (m/km)

  • SAAR (mm)

  • URBEXT 1990

  • URBEXT 2000 FPEXT

  1. Calculation points – lists metadata for all calculation points defined within project, providing the following data:

  • Site code

  • Type of estimate: lumped (L) or sub-catchment (S)

  • Watercourse

  • Site name / description

  • Easting Northing

  • AREA on FEH Web Service (km2)

  • Revised AREA (if altered) (km2)

  • Comments

  • Basin location

  • Associated catchment

  • Associated gauge

  • Created by

  • Created on

  • Last updated by

  • Last updated on

  1. Station info – lists metadata from gauge stations used to create calculation points within project (may be empty if calculation points all defined from FEH catchment descriptor downloads). Provides following data:

  • Site code

  • Station ID

  • River Name

  • Grid Reference Catchment Area (km2)

  • Operating Period

  • Recorded datum (m)

  • WISKI ID

  • Hydrometric Area

  • Measuring Authority

  • FEH Suitability Station Summary

  • General Description

  • Hydrometric Description

  • Flow Record Description

  • Flow Regime Description

H+ ProjectName_CP.shp

Point shapefile:

Each user defined calculation point within the project is represented by a point. Attributes provided for each point are:

  • Calculation

  • ProjectID

  • Associated

  • CatchmentID

  • CatchmentID_1

  • Name

  • Description

  • Comments

  • Sequence

  • X coord

  • Y coord

  • Creation Date

  • Originator

  • Updated By

  • Updated Date

  • Default UPL

  • RiverName

H+ ProjectName_gauge.shp

Point shapefile:

Each measuring gauge within the project extent (from NRFA and measuring authorities) is represented by a point. Attributes provided for each point are:

  • Watercourse

  • Source - i.e. NRFA, EA, SEPA

  • Station – gauge name

  • AuthNum – authority reference number

  • NRFANum – NRFA reference number

  • CatchArea – catchment area in km2

  • Gauge type – i.e. flow, level or both

  • StartEnd – start and end dates of available data (no end date for active gauges)

  • X coord

  • Y coord

Calculation Point sub-folder

Separate folder for each calculation point in project

CPname_AMAX.xlsx

Spreadsheet with 4 worksheets:

  • Catchment details – lists summary catchment data for calculation point location.

  • Station info – lists summary details of gauge station at calculation point location.

  • Catchment descriptors – lists all versions of catchment descriptors defined within calculation point (together with comments stored with each version)

  • AMAX data – Record provided by online gauge associated to calculation point. Fields are: Date, Water year, Flow and Level.

CalcPointName_amax.png

Image file:

Screenshot showing two charts of local gauge station data; AMAX and POT flows vs Year. Note this image file will only be present if the calculation point is associated to a gauge station with AMAX and POT data available.

Reconciliation

Sub-folder (see below for contents)

ReFH2

Sub-folder (see below for contents)

WINFAP

Sub-folder (see below for contents)

Reconciliation

Sub-folder

Hydrograph Library Name

Sub-folder for each hydrograph library that is saved against the calculation point.

Hydrograph Library Name

Sub-folder

uplift choices.png

Snapshot of any climate change factors and custom factors used in hydrograph reconciliation tool

reconciliation.png

Snapshot of settings used in hydrograph reconciliation tool

reconciliation_CPname_hydrograph_LibraryName.xlsx

Spreadsheet with 4 worksheets:

  • Hydrograph metadata – settings used in reconciliation tool, e.g. versions of data used, climate factors applied, etc.

  • Peak flow – for each return period analysed

  • Peak flow per hectare (HA) – for each return period analysed

  • Hydrographs – table listing the unreconciled hydrograph data (i.e. as output from ReFH2) for each return period analysed.

reconciliation_CPname_LibraryName_Baseline.png

Chart showing hydrographs for all return periods from this hydrograph library.

reconciliation_CPname_LibraryName_ReturnPeriod.png

Chart showing reconciled baseline hydrograph (i.e. without any climate factors applied) and original ReFH2 output hydrograph for return period specified in filename.

One chart image for each return period included in the analysis from this hydrograph library.

reconciliation_CPname_LibraryName_ReturnPeriod_CC.png

Chart showing reconciled baseline hydrograph with hydrographs for all requested climate change or custom factors for return period specified in filename.

One chart image for each return period included in the analysis from this hydrograph library.

ReFH2

Sub-folder

RevisionNumber

Sub-folder for each version of ReFH2 analysis that is saved against the calculation point. This is named using the Revision Number of the ReFH2 analysis version.

ReFH2 version name

Sub-folder

refh_CalcPointName_RevisionNumber.xlsx

Spreadsheet with 4 worksheets:

  1. ReFH2 Catchment Settings – Catchment parameters used by ReFH2:

  • Site code

  • Revision

  • Method

  • TP (hours) rural

  • Cmax (mm)

  • BL (hours)

  • Areas modelled as urban (km2)

  • TP urban scaling factor

  • IF

  • IRF

  • DS

  1. ReFH2 Rainfall Settings – Rainfall parameters used by ReFH2:

  • Site code

  • Revision

  • Rainfall DDF Model

  • Urban or rural

  • Highly permeable?

  • Season of design event

  • Storm duration (hrs)

  • Initial soil moisture Cini

  • Initial baseflow BFO

  1. Rural hydrographs – lists the following time series outputs for each return period analysed:

  • Design rainfall - FEH22 model

  • Urban net rain mm - as 100% rural model

  • Rural net rain mm - as 100% rural model

  • Sewer loss m3/s - as 100% rural model

  • Total net rain mm - as 100% rural model

  • Direct runoff m3/s - as 100% rural model

  • Baseflow m3/s - as 100% rural model

  • Total flow m3/s - as 100% rural model

  1. Rural hydrographs – lists the following time series outputs for each return period analysed:

  • Design rainfall - FEH22 model

  • Urban net rain mm - as 100% urban model

  • Rural net rain mm - as 100% urban model

  • Sewer loss m3/s - as 100% urban model

  • Total net rain mm - as 100% urban model

  • Direct runoff m3/s - as 100% urban model

  • Baseflow m3/s - as 100% urban model

  • Total flow m3/s - as 100% urban model

CalcPointName_refh_analysis_All_urban_ RevisionNumber.png

Image file:

Screenshot of chart (as displayed in calculation point interface) showing urban hydrographs for all return periods.

CalcPointName_refh_analysis_All_rural_RevisionNumber.png

Image file:

Screenshot of chart (as displayed in calculation point interface) showing rural hydrographs for all return periods.

CalcPointName _refh_analysis_ReturnPeriod_urban_RevisionNumber.png

Image file:

Screenshot of chart (as displayed in calculation point interface) showing ReFH2 urban outputs for single return period – separate image file for each return period analysed.

Data series plotted for each return period chart are:

  • Design rainfall

  • Total net rainfall – urbanised model

  • Direct runoff – urbanised model

  • Baseflow – urbanised model

  • Total flow – urbanised model

  • Peak flow (point values for all return periods)

CalcPointName _refh_analysis_ReturnPeriod _rural_RevisionNumber.png

Image file:

Screenshot of chart (as displayed in calculation point interface) showing ReFH2 rural outputs for single return period together with input rainfall – separate image file for each return period analysed.

Data series plotted for each return period chart are:

  • Design rainfall

  • Total net rainfall – rural model

  • Direct runoff – rural model

  • Baseflow – rural model

  • Total flow – rural model

  • Peak flow (point values for all return periods)

WINFAP

Sub-folder

WINFAP version name

Sub-folder for each version of WINFAP analysis that is saved against the calculation point. This is named using the Revision Number of the WINFAP analysis version.

WINFAP version name

Sub-folder

winfap_CalcPointName_RevisionNumber.xlsx

Spreadsheet with 6 worksheets:

  1. Flood Frequency Curve rural – Table of calculated values from WINFAP – all return periods for user selected distributions.

  2. Flood Frequency Curve urban – Table of calculated values from WINFAP – all return periods for user selected distributions.

  3. Growth Curve rural data – Table of calculated values from WINFAP – all return periods for user selected distributions.

  4. Growth Curve urban data – Table of calculated values from WINFAP – all return periods for user selected distributions.

  5. Pooling groups – list of used pooling group sites and rejected sites. Data provided are:

List of stations used:

  • Whether modified or not

  • Station easting and northing

  • Any comments against a station

  • Years of data (record) against each station

List of rejected stations:

  • Station easting and northing

  • Any comments against a station

  • Years of data (record) against each station

  1. WINFAP parameters – list of settings extracted from WINFAP project file. Data fields provided are:

  • Version of WINFAP (from line 2 of WINFAP simulation file)

  • Version of Peak Flow Database

  • Return periods selected

  • Distributions utilised (approximately line 383 of WINFAP simulation file)

  • Pooling group name (i.e. reference to a gauge)

  • Site of Interest

  • URBEXTMAX

  • Small Catchment Method

  • Sites suitable for pooling

  • Use at site data QMED

  • Use at site data growth curve

  • Deurbanise site L moments

  • Deurbanise group L moments

  • QMED > estimation method

  • QMED > user defined value

  • Data validation

  • Return Period

  • UrbExtYear

  • Doner UrbExtMax

  • Doner QMED suitable only

CalcPointName_winfap_analysis_ffc_urban_RevisionNumber.png

Image file:

Screenshot of chart (as displayed in calculation point interface) showing WINFAP urban flood frequency curve outputs from each distribution type analysed and for all return periods analysed.

In addition, the peak flows for each return period from the current preferred version of ReFH2 analyses is also plotted in the chart.

CalcPointName_winfap_analysis_ffc_rural_RevisionNumber.png

Image file:

Screenshot of chart (as displayed in calculation point interface) showing WINFAP rural flood frequency curve outputs from each distribution type analysed and for all return periods analysed.

In addition, the peak flows for each return period from the current preferred version of ReFH2 analyses is also plotted in the chart.

CalcPointName_winfap_analysis_growth_urban_RevisionNumber.png

Image file:

Screenshot of chart (as displayed in calculation point interface) showing WINFAP urban growth curve outputs from each distribution type analysed (growth curve = Q/Qmed plotted against return period).

CalcPointName_winfap_analysis_growth_rural_RevisionNumber.png

Image file:

Screenshot of chart (as displayed in calculation point interface) showing WINFAP rural growth curve outputs from each distribution type analysed (growth curve = Q/Qmed plotted against return period).

Note: In addition to the standard outputs described above that are generated by Flood Modeller, a report output will also include any ReFH2 and WINFAP reports that the user opted to save while running these software (from within Hydrology+). These reports are primarily in PDF format and will include analysis settings and output plots generated within these software.